


Up where they stay all day in the Sun

by lover_of_blue_roses



Series: Stockings 2019 [8]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Dork Lovers Server Stocking 2019 (Queen), Jealousy, M/M, mermaid au, prince!deacy, prince!freddie, roger!mermaid, roger!merman, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22060972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lover_of_blue_roses/pseuds/lover_of_blue_roses
Summary: Deaky only solace from his princely duties, which have gotten worse with the presence of his suitors, is the voice that sings at the end of the pier. But today another voice can be heard there.
Relationships: Eventual Brian, Freddie Mercury/Roger Taylor, John Deacon/Freddie Mercury/Roger Taylor, John Deacon/Roger Taylor
Series: Stockings 2019 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576186
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: DL Stockings 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Myessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myessa/gifts).



Despite being Prince and heir to the throne, there was one main thing John didn't have and that was a friend. He would settle for a close confidant. But that was the difficulty with being Prince, especially one so tightly under his mother's control, it was hard to meet people that really cared for him as a person and not a prince.

His father had tragically passed away when he was still young and had forced his mother into a throne she had never wanted and was rather ill suited for. John wasn't sure he'd do any better though, the idea of being King seemed daunting. Daunting and lonely. 

There was however, one thing he looked forward to. He went there as often as he could, and while he would have liked for that to have been once a day, it was more often a few times a week.

As his father's only heir there was tight security around him at all times. At all time except at the end of the palace's pier. The palace was located at the mouth of a bay for security and the pier was so long that at its end no cross bolt could reach him.

So he liked to sit at the edge, the only time he was ever alone, take off his shoes and garters and just let his feet rest in the cool water. It was nice to get away, even if only for half an hour. Especially recently... John had come of age and so his mother had decided it was time for him to be courted. So now the palace was to host appropriate suitors in the hopes that he might find one to his liking.

There was more than solitude at the end of the pier, there he had also discovered a secret treasure of sorts. Someway, somehow, the way the bay was shaped or the wide open expanse of the ocean, allowed sound to carry. The bay opened out onto the strait and on the other side there was the Red Palace and from it he could hear the most wonderful singing. 

He wondered if far on the other side of this water, there wasn't too a young man standing at the end of a pier singing into the void. The music was haunting and beautiful. For years John had listened to this singing voice. They sang songs John didn't know, in a language he'd never heard. Their voice was clear and high, somehow both light yet powerful. 

Today however there was a new surprise. A second voice. It didn't appear to be a duet as it startled the first into quiet. This voice was raw and untrained but it could clearly hear itself and improved to become ever more enthralling. It seemed to be coming from a different direction but he couldn't determine where as it echoed across the rippling water. This new, lower voice, was as beautiful as the first although distantly different. 

There was a beat of silence and then- they started to harmonize. As lovely as they were apart, they were even better together, like flavors of a dish, that elevate each other.

John felt tears well in his eyes and not from the beauty of the music. Even his only secret, his sole source of solace, had found someone. Someone so beautiful and perfect for them, a perfect match. Deaky wishes with all his heart that he might have a voice to cry out with, to join them. But instead he remains quiet, truly all alone in this world.

He lets himself fall back from his seated posture to lie upon the wooden beams. He waves a hand in the air to assure the tiny blobs that are his faraway guards that he is fine. Well, physically at least. 

His solitude feels like a rock upon his chest, crushing his every breath. And he can do nothing for the tears that blur his vision. 

Before the tide of sorrow can drag him under, a hand suddenly grabs at his foot. He jerks up and away, seeing the hand emerging from the water. The skin is so pale as to be blue and it has nearly no nails at the end of it's fingers. An assassination attempt? But how did they get to the middle of the bay without being seen or come up to breath?

And then a face emerges from the water. They are pulling themselves up by clinging to the pier. It's... It's not a human. They look like a man, and near human with a face. An extremely beautiful, fair face. Yet there are gills on their neck, their eyes are partly filmed over as though half-blind, they have flattened smoothed out ears and salt bleached blonde hair. They speak to John in a masculine voice in that language he does not know.

This is the singing voice that John has heard for so many years! It has been this being all long! Clearly it is trying to communicate something to him, but what after all these years? Ah, yes of course. The other voice he hears. He feels as though there is something stuck in his throat. 

John doesn't know if he'd want to tell them but as he honestly does not know the source of this other song, he doesn't have to worry about that. He tries to express his lack of knowledge through his hand gestures. Despite the appearance of the being's eyes they see him clearly. That film must be to protect them against the salt of the water.

At this news they look disappointed and slowly start to sink back into the water. John can't help the sob that escapes his lips, he shoves a hand into his mouth and uses his other to wipe at the tears. The good news is that at least the being doesn't speak their tongue and thus is unlikely to tell anyone from the surface. 

At this noise, they reach back up, pulling at John's hand and licking eagerly at the tear tracks. This is so unexpected that it startles a laugh out of John. The being looks at him naively, unaware of the hurt he has caused, and without malice. They try to grab at John's face but first John must maneuver himself so he is lying on his stomach, head hanging over the pier's edge. 

From here the being grabs his face in between its two cold hands and licks gently at his cheeks. It's teeth must not be like that of a humans because he feels them nibbling ever so carefully. 

Once the tears have been removed they looks at John meaningfully as though they might be hoping he'll make some more. "Is it the water you like? I could get you some next time but you'd have to be here when I return," He thinks out loud, aware they don't speak English. 

He might not have a singing voice but if he can bring them back fresh water before they can find this other voice that still echoes on the breeze, then maybe, maybe for once John can have what he's always wanted. 

He does his best to express to them to stay here, pointing beneath them like he might with a dog, and that he is going to go and get more of what came from his eyes. Despite it's pale, pupiless eyes, it seems very intelligent and to have carefully followed what he has said.

With that John rushes back down the pier, which itself is a several minute walk and then he'll have to make his way in the castle. He can only pray they will still be there when he returns. 

John tries his best to straddle the line between walking so slowly the mercreature might abandon him and alarming the guards by walking to quickly. He carefully doesn't make eye contact with them as he rushes off the pier, he knows his face can be expressive when he is emotional and it would be best not to give anything away. Hopefully they will see the red-rim of his eyes and think it is only tears he is hiding.

While there is undoubtedly a pitch of water in his room or that any servant when asked could bring him one, he'd much rather do it himself, headed determinedly to the kitchens. 

The kitchens for the palace are huge as to feed all the people that live and work there. Thus they span several floors as to best separate them by needs. Normally as the Prince, John is only served from the third, top kitchen, but coming in from the pier which is at ground level, needing only water, he doesn't bother with the stairs. 

This is why he is so surprised to see one of his many suitors, clearly hiding in a corner, petting a kitten that is drinking from a saucer of water [A/N: not of milk, do not give cats milk! it's bad for them!]. Frederick -just call me Freddie darling, everyone does- has hidden his fabulous court garb, defitting of a Prince of Mercury land of precious mines, under a worn servant's cloak. The servant in question which seems to be keeping him company is one of their gardeners. 

He hesitates to step into his own palace's kitchen at the touching tableau but it's clear they've both seen him and Freddie does his best to paste on a smile, "Prince John, I was not expecting to see you here."

He isn't the only one, the only working cook in the kitchen is also looking at his Prince with surprise. "Your Royal Highness, what can I do for you?"

"At ease, I didn't mean to intrude," John means it genuinely. After all was he not on the pier for the very same purpose? It's bad enough his suitors are imposed on him, he would not want to impose on them. That being said Freddie is maybe his favorite. 

He seems far too lively to make a good match for John but he is kind, thoughtful and fun. And when John told him he wasn't interested in pursuing their courting, Freddie very respectfully backed off. Staying in the palace then only to socialise with the other gathered nobility and form important alliances. 

"I just need a drinking skin," He tells the cook.

"Drinking before even the evening meal starts?" The gardener teases with a raised brow. John can feel himself blush slightly. He's always like solitude, and thus tends to seek out quiet places. There is a reason he knows the names of all the librarians and all the gardeners. This one happens to be Jim, a man a few years his junior, that John has very quietly held the smallest possible crush for.

He knows it's forbidden between a Prince and a commoner so he's tried his hardest. It's not his fault that Jim is handsome, thoughtful, hard working, dedicated and generous with his time and attention. 

"Water, just water," John instructs the cook, who quickly gives it to his Prince. As much as he'd like to rush out as soon as it's handed to him, he should at least remember his manners as a host and enquire of his guest's wellbeing. "I- er um- what seems to have happened?"

John isn't normally this awkward, he is actually a relatively decent Prince although he tends to be better with numbers than with people. It's just he's nervous in front of his suitors and anxious to get back to his newest acquaintance.

Freddie puts on his best court mask and John knows he's going to get lied to and told that 'everything is fine.' Before he can, Jim cuts in, "Freddie fought with his father's advisor over his unaggressive manner in which he pursued you and then consenting to your wishes-"

"Because forcing yourself on me is likely to make me want you more or see you better in a better light?" John despairs. The way people of nobility or power are treated like meat that people have a right to, can be very draining. 

"Exactly!" Freddie adds on before Jim continues, "So they had a rather big public fight, some thought to um poke at this vulnerability so Freddie decided to leave the palace for a short horse ride."

"Minus the horse- I'm not a good rider," Freddie intersected. They waited to see if he was going to do more than correct, such as tell the story himself but he kept mum.

"To the end of the spits where he'd chosen to relax while singing-" 'Oh shit!' John didn't know what to do with the information he'd found the only thing aside from fresh water that being wanted, he wanted to be selfish for a moment more and keep this new potential friend to himself. "Only the sound carried over the bay, and he could be heard from the palace."

"With another voice?"

"Right!?" Freddie exclaimed as he jumped up, leaving the cloak behind. 

"The sound must only travel to the front of the bay," John reasoned.

"Anyways, so Freddie came back to the castle to a lot of *hrmm* teasing behavior, shall we say? So he's decided to tend his newly found cat here."

John looks down at the cat. It's clearly been recently bathed and judging by the scratches on Freddie's hands, he 'stooped low' enough to do it himself. Freddie might not be the right match for him politically or personally but that doesn't mean he's not a good, worthy person.

What kind of king, what kind of person would it make him if he acted so selfishly. "If the cat does not need you any longer you should come with me."

Freddie stands. He has yet to see the cutting, cruel tongue of Prince John but he has heard rumor of it. 

But a confrontation is not what happens, as satisfying as it might be. No instead something perhaps even more satisfying happens. Prince John has only declared one part of the palace off-bounds to them, and that was the pier. They would watch him escape to it every day, seeing him sitting at the end but unable to follow.

From all the windows of the palace that face the sea, they will be able to see this special treatment Freddie is getting. This will give him power over the others whom he is to form alliances with. And so Freddie is happy enough to be seen walking down a pier, even if nothing especially should await him at the end. But something special does await him at the end, although he can hardly believe his eyes. 

They walk to the end of the pier and there, reposed on his back is a mermaid. For what else could it be? The top half, starting at the hips is that of a man's and the bottom half is as the tail of a dolphin, blue and scaleless. Or perhaps rather a merman for it has no breasts although it's face is fair and fine. 

He opens his eyes as they approach and they are the palest of grey-blue. Despite being pupiless they seem to stare right into him. "He wanted me to find the person whom he heard singing," John tells Freddie.

Freddie beams at this, a wide smile that he hides behind a hand, "Really? Did you like it?" He peers eagerly at the merman who seems a little weary of Freddie's enthusiasm. "Oh, I mean you no harm."

"He can't speak English, from what I gather," John states.

"I see," Freddie ponders for a moment how to express himself without language and starts up the same shanty as before, at the same time he strips himself of all his fine clothes. The merman reacts to the singing while John reacts to the exposed skin. 

The merman laughs and hoots with joy, diving under the water to come up in a flip like dolphins do, hopefully no one from the palace can see this far out. He joins Freddie in his harmonizing. John was right to think the merman was smart as he quickly catches up with this new song’s tune and chorus.

All that Freddie was wearing grows into a careless heap; his tunic embroidered with the gems of his lands, the gold of his bracelets, his strips himself down to his skin, nearly forgetting to remove his crown before sliding into the cold water.

Freddie's skin is the lightest of bronze, as though nearly tan, by the standards of his land. It's also flawless and gorgeous over a lean but tone body, absolutely covered in hair. Rather than detract, it acts like sprinkling on a cake to make it even more attractive. 

He looks younger and more boyish without his jewelry. Unlike many nobility or royalty, he wears his crown well and easily. So rather than this looking more natural, it makes him look more bare and vulnerable, as he might appear before a lover. John can't help but to blush and try his best to overt his eyes. He had already decided he wasn't going to continue their courtship, he was being so silly.

Freddie bobs in the water, treding easily before points to himself and clear enunciates his name and then pointing to the merman. The clever merman instantly understands, naming himself Roger.

Which servers only to make John feel like a complete heel. He hadn't even thought of that, seeing the language barrier as insurmountable. And here he had felt so selfless as to introduce Freddie to Roger. 

Still, there is nothing he can do but to acknowledge his flaws and try to be better, or so claims one of his royal advisors. So he introduces himself to Roger. Roger is dismayed to find another man named John, which is very confusing. John offers his last name, to be addressed as Deacon, but Freddie, who playfully splashes and plays with Roger, points to his mother and sister, about how confusing that might be.

Freddie suggests the nickname; Deaky. John likes it a lot, something so personal, made just for him, and Roger has never met another Deaky. 

More than focus on his name, Deaky watches them play in the water, Freddie's curious poke at Roger's fin and Roger's curious stroke of non-salt damaged hair. They look so close, so intimate as they look into each other's eyes and sing. 

Jealousy is terrible and ugly inside of him, but more than that he wants to join them to not be left out, again. He looks over his shoulder at the distant figure of his guards, they stand unmoving, unflinching... uncaring. 

As he turns his gaze back to look over the water, he passes over the water skin. Ah, right! He picks it up, uncorks it and scooches to the very edge of the ledge. "Roger," he calls out softly, almost hoping to go unheard over their lovely singing.

But the merman hears him and looks at him with those depthless eyes. He grabs what John is handing him but he is confused. Freddie demonstrates by bringing the skin to his lips, tipping it back and drinking, but when Roger tries the same he is unable to drink, the water overflowing from his mouth and oozing out from the gills at his neck. He coughs and sputters, confused and looking like a discontent cat.

Freddie turns to Deaky, "What made you think he was thirsty? How did you know?"

"He licked at my face," Deaky answers honestly before realizing that's admitting to crying. To distract from this, he leans over the pier and snatches the water skin, pouring it over his dry skin. 

As soon as he does this, Roger is leveraging himself out of the water to nuzzle at his skin and lick. Roger's strange hair drips cold ocean water on him, making him shiver. The licking feels ticklish and Deaky can't help giggling. "Oh my, you're so cute!" Freddie exclaims, making Deaky blush. Yet he can't help the giggles that Roger's tongue brings out in him. "I- I'm a prince. Princes can't be cute."

"Nonsense, I'm a prince and I'm all kinds of cute," Freddie says confidently, flipping his long black locks dramatically. Deaky can't help but to giggle at this too. "Here, here, I'll give you something to giggle about," Freddie pulls himself out of the water and all of a sudden Deaky must avert his gaze from all that there is to see.

Which is why he doesn't see that in one motion, Freddie pulls aside Deaky’s jerkin and sprinkles water at the base of his neck and along his collarbone. Deaky squeals under Roger's adminstations, tipping over onto the deck. Deaky is too busy laughing hysterically to remember for a moment, "Freddie, you need to wave the guards away."

Freddie grabbed one of Deaky's hand and stuck in the air unmoving. "Hold on, hold on," Deaky wrinkles until he ends up with a lapful of Roger, who has halted his eager attack, his eyes staring intently for more water to be poured. He lifts his hand unmoving into the air, the sign of the all clear, as he straightens out his crown on his brow. 

He knows it's more than a physical, expensive object, it's a powerful symbol. His head always feels odd and light without it. He hesitates, maybe he should take it off, here at the pier far away from it all. To join them as though he was just some carefree boy. Freddie has certainly removed his, but Freddie is hardly a standard -well anything really. 

Surely if he were to leave it on his head and lose it to Roger's enthusiasm, the merman would be good enough to fetch it for him?

Great, first he treated Roger like a greedy child might a toy, and now like a dog. He sighs, sliding it out of his hair and going to thump it down on the wood but Freddie stops him. "Here you have this," he sprinkles some more water for Roger's delightment, "And you give me this." He takes the crown that he replaces on Deaky's brow before securing it by weaving his hair around it. 

Deaky feels a little uncomfortable at having Roger lick at him this way. Not for that it could be demeaning, for it is clear that Roger is loving this and has made no move for the waterskin, but for how it makes Deaky feel; tingly and hot deep inside. 

As much as he'd prefer to have Roger lick somewhere less sensitive, like his arm again but it is actually much less practical compared to the flat, broad expanse of Deaky's chest. Freddie, right next to him, remains completely bare, sunbathing in the sunshine.

Deaky tries his best to focus on laughter, this is easy as Freddie gives in his best driest court accent, a hilarious rundown of everyone that has arrived to court in the last week. In fact, he gets so distracted by Freddie's funny stories that he forgets to rewet himself for Roger. Roger, despite the language barrier, makes himself understood with sucking bites.

They don't hurt and that's rather the problem. Roger nibbles and sucks at his skin in such a way that sends heat to pool in his groin. He shifts Roger as to not be sitting directly against the problem but there is little he can do with Roger’s tail but to try and focus on Freddie's story. Which only makes him notice less when Roger demands for more water, starting a vicious cycle. 

"Marianne wore nearly as many peacock feathers on her dress as Marcus has stuck up his ass-" Freddie's monologue is interrupted by Roger shimmering.

A blue glow surrounds him, the same blue of his skin and then it dissipates into the air, leaving Roger as a man on Deaky's lap. And oh, is he truly a man. Deaky feels himself blushing as he looks away, he can still feel Roger's tongue on his neck. 

Roger has the same face but his skin is now that of pale flesh and his flipper are two standard legs, the only other difference he can see once Roger gets off his neck and lower to his chest where they can look at each other, are his eyes. Where they were pupiless before they now have as though a 'w' signed in black. 

First Freddie who is so gorgeous and has nothing to be ashamed of, and is still stark naked besides him. Now Roger. Roger's body is soft like John's but it complements perfectly his doll like face. But John is lanky and awkward, without the muscles of a skilled, trained warrior. At least he mostly has still all his clothes on. 

Deaky thought he saw -yep. He politely averts his eyes but that glance confirmed what he thought. Roger, beautiful and naked in his lap, is hard. Freddie must notice too as he scootches closer to the both of them, pressing his naked muscular thigh against Deaky's. And here he'd only come to the end of his pier to try to get away from the court. 

"Do you think he wants some help with that?" Freddie asks the prince as he lays a hand on Roger's thigh. 

"Yes, please," Answers Roger to their astonishment. 

"You speak English?" Is Deaky's first response while Freddie's is an eager grabbing of the no-longer merman's cock that jumps in his grip, as he moans and collapses onto Deaky's bared shoulder. 

"I-I can in this form, ah, speak the land language," Roger tries to explain as he squirms from Freddie's touch. As if Roger's bare beauty was not enough, now Deaky must content with him squirming in his lap as he pants hotly into his ear, to say nothing of his voice that crafts such lovely singing making an even sweeter sound. 

Deaky squirms and thinks of himself as being a bother between these two men and their connection and yet he can not say that he has been anywhere more desirous than pinned between their two naked bodies. 

"Aren't you going to help?" Freddie teasingly whispers into his ear.

Deaky darts a single glance downwards at where Freddie's large hand is more than capable to the task as he engulfs the now-beige skin of Roger's. "I-"

Deaky thinks to question this but he's cut off by Roger's mouth instant on his. He can do nothing but open up to the questing tongue. The merman's mouth tastes most strongly of salt and yet also of sweat, which Deaky realises blushing must come from when his body was licked.

Roger grabs at Deaky's hair causing the crown to tip despite Freddie having woven it in place. He tries to redirect Roger's hands to somewhere less dangerous such as his shoulder but then Roger breaks their kiss to return his mouth to the prince's chest. 

While Roger's licking had been previously goal-oriented after the water, now they were far more like kisses as Roger sucked and nibbled at his skin. This was sure to leave a myriad of strange and unexplainable marks, Deaky was enjoying himself far too much to ask him to stop. Deaky threaded his fingers in the man's salt-bleached hair. He did however soon find out how much Roger loved to have his hair pulled and how it directly corresponded to how sharp were his bites. 

Roger only lifted his mouth to let out high squealing moans. Deaky could feel the whole length of Freddie pressing right up against him. Pinned between the two of them, John could do little but to join and ride out their pleasures. Despite having nothing more than Roger's weight to grind up against and Freddie using him, the three of them were rather quickly are able to find relief.

It is quiet now that the two singers are no longer producing that other, yet equally beautiful sound, there is not even the sound of the lapping of the waves as they are so far from shore, only the strong smell of salt in the air. 

Deaky lets himself melt into the pier allowing his breathing to slowly but surely get back to normal, while Freddie, who's was Deaky's senior by at least a few years, busied himself from tidying them up. Freddie had been good enough to use a handkerchief as to neither come on Deaky's clothing nor let Roger do so. 

While partially Deaky was grateful, he confessed at least in the silent of his heart, that he loved the idea. It filled him with burning lust that felt like fire ants through his bloodstream. Him, a prince, not just a visiting prince, but prince and heir of these very lands, covered and marked by these two men. He can only imagine what that would look like, to have his finery so ruined, and he can feel by the weight on his brow, to have his crown, symbol of his reign, askew. 

He feels himself blush as he gets down from the high, straightening his tunic and closing his jerkin. This should hide most of the marks but Deaky is pretty sure that Roger's seeking mouth traveled further than his collar will cover. 

The prince busies himself watching Freddie recover his glorious body. Their wet bodies have dried naturally from the heat of the sun and so now Deaky watches as those fine toned limbs and ample fair body disappear under bejeweled clothing. This means, and it had almost passed his mind, that Roger is completely naked. 

He remembers of course, how can he not when the merman-now-man in question is on top of him and under his hands, all that smooth creamy skin. Hopefully mermen can't get sunburnt. Deaky sacrifices his jerkin as a top and Freddie his caplet as a skirt to dress him until they can get back to the palace and actual clothes.

-The end?-  



	2. Chapter 2

[Nope, bonus time.]

The guards at the end of the pier look at this newcomer questioningly but without suspicion for it is clear that he could be stowing away no weapon and that neither of the princes are in distress by his presence.

Very much the opposite for Roger is witty, funny and charming. He explains a little of the magic that is part of him. He was born a merman and will return to that form whenever in the ocean but once out of it and dried, becomes in every way like a man but for retaining his magic.

At first Deaky thinks himself a bother, coming between him and Freddie, who is equally as joyful and playful but it soon becomes clear that Roger likes Deaky too. He describes him as a touchstone, something familiar that he has known for years, as he likes to sleep at the bottom of the bay and would only come up to sing when he would see the prince's feet in the water.

Deaky is touched to be thought of in such a way. That they thought of each other both as this small comfort in their demanding lives. That Roger would go through all the trouble of singing, of putting on that marvelous show, just for Deaky, who was not *his* prince.

The prince did not lie when he had turned Freddie down as a suitor, thinking that despite the man's cunning and clever, to be too energetic for them to co-exist peacefully. But with Roger, who bounces about like a wound-up toy, they seem to deal with each other, draining the collective energy.

They make it to Deaky's suites of rooms where he gets his manservant to get any and all clothes that could fit Roger so that they might outfit him. He turns to look at the two of them, opposites like the moon and the sun, one so fair, light-haired and blue-eyed, and the other so handsome, raven-haired and brown-eyed. They are giggling with each other but they are also looking at Deaky, waiting for him to get the joke or to play the straight-man.

Perhaps now with this new dynamic of three, they could work, Deaky thinks to himself as they dress Roger in some 'land dwellers' clothing. Once done Freddie brings Roger before a looking glass so that he can admire his reflection only for them to be interrupted.

The servant doesn't look or make comment at the scene before him, in fact no one has made any comments that they see anything odd about Roger despite how he arrived to them or his odd eyes. He addresses his prince professionally, "Your Royal Highness another suitor has arrived."

While new members of the courts, nobility and dignitaries were still trickling in normally all the suitors had arrived weeks ago and Deaky didn't remember anyone missing. He shares an equally confused look with Freddie, that seems just as surprised by this news.

The Mercury Heir is the first to voice their question, "From where?"

"Triginta Of Novem."

'What the fuck,' Deaky has been raised with enough etiquette not to say. "Holy shit," Freddie does not have this restraint.

Novem is far, far on the other side of the white lands. There's never been a kingdom there for very long as the lands are so harsh and barren that no amount of wealth or power can be maintained. Only desperate people went to live somewhere so infertile and lawless. There was only one benefit, it was said land that white was closer to the gods, all seekers and the best priests came from there.

Triginta had been the younger brother to a rich emperor would had sought for empty lands to establish himself but that was now a hundred years ago and there had never been news or sightings of them since.

"Prince Brian Harold May awaits you in the revisiting hall."


End file.
